A New Norm…

This is my first real post in a while, and I’m a little disappointed that this is my first piece after taking an emergency hiatus. But the times require this, and as an artist it would be a little irresponsible for me not to talk about this subject.

I’m not making this political, though I will talk about a little bit of politics. Politics has nothing to do with this, but politics has interjected itself into this. I will probably use word that were spoken by other people, so my disclaimer is that this isn’t meant to be a copyright infringement. That shouldn’t really matter, however. What happened in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend is simply inexcusable and disgusting.

Before people accuse me of race baiting, take a look at the featured image, which has circulated around the news for the last few days. When is it okay for ANYBODY, regardless of the cause, to drive a vehicle into a crowd of people? What angers me is that there are people who actually blame the counter-protesters for this attack. These are some of the same people who defends the symbols of the Confederacy; which died about 150 years ago; Nazi symbols; the Nazi Party was defeated in 1945; and Donald Trump. Yes, I said it. Donald Trump.

The thing with Donald Trump is that he didn’t start this “White Nationalist” fire. Instead, he capitalized on it. To make it worse, he doesn’t have the balls, what little balls he might have, to admit that he had a part in this absolute fucking craziness that’s going on right now, all in his pledge to “Make America Great Again”. Is this really how America is going to be great again? By capitalizing on the greatest division of our country since the Civil Rights Movement? By boosting up the illogical and stupid fears of bigoted people, who claim that they are proud and patriotic Americans?

Damn the fact that the world is scratching its head over the fact that America is supposed to be the land of the freedom and liberty, but she’s acting a complete ass right now. It shouldn’t be a surprise; American history is very rich with oppression and blood of people who are deemed not worthy of being a part of the Republic. What’s damning and dangerous is that our leaders; the President in particular; doesn’t want to stand up to it. In the words of a commentary I saw on CNN, just call a spade a spade. But Donald Trump knows that these so-called nationalists have him in their back pockets.

Again, this is not an attempt to throw politics into what’s going on. This is far beyond politics. This is the basic psyche of American society, and it must change. I’m not really saying anything different from what has been said for many years; the difference is that you’re hearing it from a fed up, ordinary citizen. The youngest members of my family and your family should not be seeing this, but they are. To think that slavery days and Jim Crow racism and prejudice ideology doesn’t exist today is simply stupid and naive. To think that discrimination against immigrants is something shockingly new is a demonstration that people don’t know American history. America has systemically feared and restricted certain immigrants through out its history. One can only look back as far as World War Two, when Japanese citizens, immigrants or US born, were rounded and stripped of everything that they owned, only to be sent to internment camps.

Heather Heyer

Before I close out, I want everyone to look at this photo. This lady was stuck by the vehicle that you saw in the featured image. I know that her image has been circulated throughout the media and internet since Saturday, but I wanted to help put a face to what we’re dealing with. I bet she didn’t wake up on Saturday thinking that she would die for a cause. I bet she thought that after the protests were done for the day, she would get with her friends and protesters to talk about how Saturday went down, how accomplished she felt, and what more can she and her group could do. Saturday night would have been the first time she sat down all day, and she probably wanted a foot massage and a good meal. Small price to pay for what she did that day, and the pain and hunger was worth it. Instead, she was mowed down by a bigot, who is the same age as some of my friends’ older kids.

James Alex Fields Jr.

Next picture is of the terrorist who killed her. That brings up another issue. People are so worried about Black, Latino, and Muslim terrorists, but do you know that most terrorist attacks that happen in America are from so-called White and Christian “nationalists”? But nobody wants to talk about that. Everybody always want to talk about foreign terrorist. I’m actually more worried about a domestic terrorist that a foreign terrorist. Again, nobody wants to talk about that.

A lot of lives have been lost for no reason. After all, two cops lost their lives that same day. But I can’t even begin to talk about how many other Black lives have been lost over the years. It’s sad.

I don’t think Charlottesville will be the end. As long as we have people like Donald Trump around, and people hiding behind the notion of being American patriots (which they are not) while floating Confederate and Nazi flags, this is the beginning of a new norm. We just have to face it and prepare for it.

Be safe, my friends. My heart goes out to Charlottesville, and to Heather’s family.

Published by JB Burrage

I'm a Meridian, Mississippi native, and proud Army veteran. I currently live somewhere in the great metropolis of Atlanta, because I wanted to be close to home while still being close to pretty city buildings and lights. Oh...also so I could finally set up shop somewhere, and Atlanta was the perfect place to set up while still living in the South. As a creative writer, I'm using this blog/website as an outreach for the promotion of my various work, such as books and plays, as well as address mental health issues. I'm also running a company called The Mad Writer Project, LLC, which publishes and develop my various work.
View all posts by JB Burrage